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Hominin footprints were recently discovered at Matalascañas (Huelva; South of Iberian Peninsula). They were dated thanks to a previous study in deposits of the Asperillo cliff to 106 ± 19 ka, Upper Pleistocene, making Neandertals the most likely track-makers. In this paper, we report new Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating that places the hominin footprints surface in the range of 295.8 ± 17 ka (MIS 9-MIS 8 transition, Middle Pleistocene). This new age implies that the possible track-makers are individuals more likely from the Neandertal evolutionary lineage. Regardless of the taxon attributed to the Matalascañas footprints, they supplement the existing partial fossil record for the European Middle Pleistocene Hominins being notably the first palaeoanthropological evidence (hominin skeleton or footprints) from the MIS 9 and MIS 8 transition discovered in the Iberian Peninsula, a moment of climatic evolution from warm to cool. Thus, the Matalascañas footprints represent a crucial record for understanding human occupations in Europe in the Pleistocene., We thank the Territorial Delegation in Huelva of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development of the Junta de Andalucía for permission to conduct research. Furthermore, this work has been financial support from the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (grant no. PID2019-104625RB-100), the Andalusian Government to the Research Group RNM276 and Basque Government to the Research Group EJ IT1418-19. In addition, AGO is supported by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-22558) and by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (grant no. PGC2018-093925-B-C33, MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE). We would also like to give special thanks to Alicia Medialdea Utande, Head of the Luminescence Research Line of the National Center for Research on Human Evolution—CENIEH, for her help and collaboration in the treatment and interpretation of the data.

This paper is an edited version of that presented in the international Conference Ancient Greece and Contemporary World: The Influence of Greek Thought on Philosophy, Science and Technology (Ancient Olympia, Greece, 28- 31 August 2016), published under the reference ‘“The Representation of the Kingdom of Tartessus by the Ancient Greeks Revisited: New Evidence for a Forgotten Cause’, by Juan J. R. Villarías-Robles & Antonio Rodríguez-Ramírez. In S. A. Paipetis (ed.), 2017, Ancient Greece and Contemporary World: The Influence of Greek Thought on Philosophy, Science and Technology. An International Conference (Ancient Olympia, 28-31 August 2016) (ISBN: 978-960-530-171-2), pp. 133-141. Athens: University of Patras & International Center for Sciences and Hellenic Values, Results in the recent studies of the geomorphological evolution of the coastlines of Iberia in the Gulf of Cadiz in the Middle and Late Holocene add up to archaeological evidence accumulated since the 1980s in support of a renewed case for the representation of the pre-Roman kingdom of Tartessus in the writings of a number of Greek and Roman authors of Antiquity. Herodotus, for instance, made reference to this Iberian kingdom in connection with Ionian navigation, trade, and settlement in the western Mediterranean Sea in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. The accumulated evidence ought to make researchers revise the paradigm for studying Tartessus that has prevailed in the literature since the 1960s. Launched in the wake of a number of sustained archaeological excavations and spectacular finds in the Spanish regions of Andalusia and Estremadura in the late 1950s and early 1960s, this paradigm has two defining characteristics: (1) the resort to archaeology as the practically exclusive source for Tartessus, to the detriment of the narratives from Antiquity, and (2) the concept of this ancient kingdom as a derivative culture in the long history of relations that natives of southern Iberia maintained with Phoenician traders and colonists.

This paper is an enlarged version of that presented in the international Conference Ancient Greece and Contemporary World: The Influence of Greek Thought on Philosophy, Science and Technology (Ancient Olympia, Greece, 28- 31 August 2016), published under the reference ‘“Paleo-geography of the Gulf of Cadiz in SW Iberia during the Second Millennium BCE, by Antonio Rodríguez-Ramírez & Juan J. R. Villarías-Robles.” In S. A. Paipetis (ed.), 2017, Ancient Greece and Contemporary World: The Influence of Greek Thought on Philosophy, Science and Technology. An International Conference (Ancient Olympia, 28-31 August 2016) (ISBN: 978-960-530-171-2), pp. 123- 132. Athens: University of Patras & International Center for Sciences and Hellenic Values, A remarkable feature of the geomorphological processes at work on the coasts of the Gulf of Cadiz in SW Iberia is the estuarine mouths of a number of large-flowing rivers: Guadiana, Piedras, Tinto-Odiel, Guadalete and Guadalquivir. These mouths exhibit sandy barriers and marshlands. Over the most recent millennia these five estuaries have been conditioned by fluvial-marine dynamics, climate change, neo-tectonics and anthropogenic activity. The systems of sandy littoral barriers and marshlands built up during phases of progradation and aggradation, which were interrupted at intervals in the course of the Holocene by erosional phases of “Extreme wave events” or EWEs (storm surges or tsunamis) and subsidence. A multidisciplinary study from a number of cores drilled in the Guadalquivir paleo-estuary has made it possible to identify evidence of as many as three EWEs in the area in the 2nd millennium BCE: A (~2000 cal yr BCE), B (~1550 cal yr BCE) and C (~1150 cal yr BCE). Evidence of these three events has been recognized elsewhere along the Iberian coasts of the Gulf. The three events caused significant geographical changes, which may have affected human settlements established in the area during the Neolithic and Copper Age periods, as well as during the subsequent Middle Bronze Age. They may have affected, for instance, the site where the city of Cadiz now stands. In the Middle Bronze Age, which EWE C probably terminated, the present-day peninsula of Cadiz was divided into at least three islands, one of them being “Erýtheia,” mentioned by Greek geographer and ethnologist Strabo of Amasia around AD 1 in connection with the legend of Geryon or Geryones, king of Tartessus. This legend is intertwined with that of Bronze Age Greek hero Heracles. A large temple dedicated to this character (the Herákleion) on one of the islands, arguably Erýtheia, made Cadiz famous in Antiquity. Strabo also mentions a settlement by the name of “Port of Menestheus” as well as an oracle by the name of “Oracle of Menestheus” upon the shores of the Gulf of Cadiz. In all likelihood, this “Menestheus” was the same as the Athenian leader Menestheus who fought in the Trojan War, according to Homer in The Iliad.

Resumen del trabajo presentado al Simposio Internacional Tsunamis históricos en la Península Ibérica: un diálogo interdisciplinar, celebrado en el Museo de Málaga del 14 al 15 de febrero de 2019., Se describen y explican huellas en las hoy marismas del Guadalquivir de 3 episodios sucesivos de alta energía de origen marino (dos de ellos, probablemente tsunamis), con un intervalo de unos 500 años, entre finales del III milenio y finales del II milenio a. EC. Son huellas de naturaleza geológica, biológica y arqueológica, datadas por el método del Carbono-14. Las huellas de los posibles tsunamis son homólogas a las halladas por otros investigadores en otros puntos de la costa atlántica del sur de España y el centro y sur de Portugal. Estos tsunamis alteraron significativamente el paisaje del litoral y su entorno inmediato del suroeste peninsular.

[EN] There are reasons other than biological and environmental to argue for the preservation of Doñana National Park—reasons which are geological, archaeological, and anthropological. Up until the establishment of Estación Biológica of CSIC, the lower Guadalquivir River basin was home to a human community adapted to the rich, varied resources of a marshland milieu. Early in the 20th century, the construction of Palacio de la Marismilla led to the unexpected discovery of a yet older settlement: one by Cerro del Trigo, dated to the 2nd to the 6th century AD, which archaeologist G. Bonsor and philologist A. Schulten excavated in the 1920s. Their project confirmed such occupation, and, in the process, revealed an earlier, prehistoric one, along with clear signs of subsidence of the ground during the Holocene. In effect, Doñana National Park is a setting for relatively rapid geomorphological processes of scientific interest, which can be compared with those that climate oscillations and neo-tectonics have generated elsewhere in the planet over the past millennia. Since 2005 the interdisciplinary Hinojos Project has brought the relevance of these scientific accomplishments to bear on its own results—mainly, on the one hand, the evidence of settlement and cultural development that goes back to at least Neolithic times and, on the other, the traces of a rapid geomorphological dynamics that combines long phases of alluvial sedimentation and subsidence of the ground with short, periodic events of high-energy marine transgression., [ES] Hay más razones que las biológicas y medioambientales para conservar Doñana: son razones geológicas, arqueológicas y antropológicas. Hasta la constitución de la Estación Biológica del CSIC en 1964, la comarca del bajo Guadalquivir estuvo habitada durante siglos por una comunidad humana adaptada al aprovechamiento de los muchos recursos que el medio marismeño ofrece. A comienzos del siglo XX, la construcción del Palacio de La Marismilla tuvo por efecto inesperado el descubrimiento de los restos de un poblamiento más antiguo aún: el del yacimiento de El Cerro del Trigo, de los siglos II a VI de nuestra era, que el arqueólogo G. Bonsor y el filólogo A. Schulten excavarían en la década de 1920. Su proyecto confirmó este poblamiento y, además, reveló indicios de otro, más remoto todavía, de la prehistoria, así como señales de una subsidencia general del terreno durante el Holoceno. El Espacio Natural es, en efecto, escenario de procesos geomorfológicos de duración relativamente rápida que tienen un gran interés científico; son comparables a los que generan en otras zonas del planeta las fluctuaciones climáticas y la neo-tectónica de los últimos milenios. El pluridisciplinar Proyecto Hinojos, iniciado en 2005, ha puesto en valor estos referentes para la ciencia sobre Doñana a la luz de sus propios resultados: principalmente, de un lado, evidencias de poblamiento y tradiciones culturales que se remontan al menos al Neolítico y, de otro, claros signos de una rápida dinámica geomorfológica de fases sedimentarias aluviales y de subsidencia, interrumpidas periódicamente por episodios erosivos de origen oceánico de alta energía.

Con autorización de la editorial para este capítulo. La versión en inglés de este trabajo se encuentra el siguiente enlace: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/160088, [EN] Results in the recent studies of the geomorphological evolution of the coastlines of Iberia in the Gulf of Cadiz in the Middle and Late Holocene add up to archaeological evidence accumulated since the 1980s in support of a renewed case for the representation of the pre-Roman kingdom of Tartessus in the writings of a number of Greek and Roman authors of Antiquity. Herodotus, for instance, made reference to this Iberian kingdom in connection with Ionian navigation, trade, and settlement in the western Mediterranean Sea in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. The accumulated evidence ought to make researchers revise the paradigm for studying Tartessus that has prevailed in the literature since the 1960s. Launched in the wake of a number of sustained archaeological excavations and spectacular finds in the Spanish regions of Andalusia and Estremadura in the late 1950s and early 1960s, this paradigm has two defining characteristics: (1) the resort to archaeology as the practically exclusive source for Tartessus, to the detriment of the narratives from Antiquity, and (2) the concept of this ancient kingdom as a derivative culture in the long history of relations that natives of southern Iberia maintained with Phoenician traders and colonists., [EL] Τα αποτελέσματα από τις πρόσφατες μελέτες σχετικά με τη γεωμορφολογική εξέλιξη των ακτών της Ιβηρικής Χερσονήσου στον κόλπο του Κάδιθ κατά τη Μέση και Ύστερη Ολόκαινο εποχή προστίθενται στα αρχαιολογικά στοιχεία που έχουν συγκεντρωθεί από τη δεκαετία του 1980, υποστηρίζοντας μια ανανεωμένη υπόθεση για την αναπαράσταση του προ-ρωμαϊκού βασιλείου της Ταρτησσού στα κείμενα μιας σειράς Ελλήνων και Ρωμαίων συγγραφέων της αρχαιότητας. Ο Ηρόδοτος, για παράδειγμα, αναφέρθηκε στο εν λόγω βασίλειο της Ιβηρικής σχετικά με τη ναυσιπλοΐα, το εμπόριο και την αποίκηση των Ιώνων στη δυτική Μεσόγειο, κατά τον 7ο και 6ο αιώνα π.Χ. Τα στοιχεία που έχουν συγκεντρωθεί θα έπρεπε να κάνουν τους ερευνητές να αναθεωρήσουν το παράδειγμα που χρησιμοποιείται για τη μελέτη της Ταρτησσού, το οποίο έχει επικρατήσει στη βιβλιογραφία από τη δεκαετία του 1960. Το παράδειγμα αυτό υιοθετήθηκε μετά από μια σειρά εκτεταμένων αρχαιολογικών ανασκαφών και θεαματικών ευρημάτων στις ισπανικές περιοχές της Ανδαλουσίας και της Εστρεμαδούρα, κατά τα τέλη της δεκαετίας του 1950 και τις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 1960, και έχει δύο καθοριστικά χαρακτηριστικά: (1) τη χρήση της αρχαιολογίας ως τη σχεδόν αποκλειστική πηγή για την Ταρτησσό, σε βάρος των αφηγήσεων από την αρχαιότητα και (2) την αντίληψη αυτού του αρχαίου βασιλείου ως ενός παράγωγου πολιτισμού στη μακρά ιστορία των σχέσεων που οι γηγενείς της νότιας Ιβηρικής διατηρούσαν με τους Φοίνικες εμπόρους και αποίκους.

Con autorización de la editorial para este capítulo. La versión en inglés de este trabajo se encuentra el siguiente enlace: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/160087, [EN] A remarkable feature of the geomorphological processes at work on the coasts of the Gulf of Cadiz in SW Iberia is the estuarine mouths of a number of large-flowing rivers: Guadiana, Piedras, Tinto-Odiel, Guadalete and Guadalquivir. These mouths exhibit sandy barriers and marshlands. Over the most recent millennia these five estuaries have been conditioned by fluvial-marine dynamics, climate change, neo-tectonics and anthropogenic activity. The systems of sandy littoral barriers and marshlands built up during phases of progradation and aggradation, which were interrupted at intervals in the course of the Holocene by erosional phases of “Extreme wave events” or EWEs (storm surges or tsunamis) and subsidence. A multidisciplinary study from a number of cores drilled in the Guadalquivir paleo-estuary has made it possible to identify evidence of as many as three EWEs in the area in the 2nd millennium BCE: A (~2000 cal yr BCE), B (~1550 cal yr BCE) and C (~1150 cal yr BCE). Evidence of these three events has been recognized elsewhere along the Iberian coasts of the Gulf. The three events caused significant geographical changes, which may have affected human settlements established in the area during the Neolithic and Copper Age periods, as well as during the subsequent Middle Bronze Age. They may have affected, for instance, the site where the city of Cadiz now stands. In the Middle Bronze Age, which EWE C probably terminated, the present-day peninsula of Cadiz was divided into at least three islands, one of them being “Erýtheia,” mentioned by Greek geographer and ethnologist Strabo of Amasia around AD 1 in connection with the legend of Geryon or Geryones, king of Tartessus. This legend is intertwined with that of Bronze Age Greek hero Heracles. A large temple dedicated to this character (the Herákleion) on one of the islands, arguably Erýtheia, made Cadiz famous in Antiquity. Strabo also mentions a settlement by the name of “Port of Menestheus” as well as an oracle by the name of “Oracle of Menestheus” upon the shores of the Gulf of Cadiz. In all likelihood, this “Menestheus” was the same as the Athenian leader Menestheus who fought in the Trojan War, according to Homer in The Iliad., [EL] Ένα αξιοσημείωτο χαρακτηριστικό των γεωμορφολογικών διεργασιών που επιδρούν στις ακτές του Κόλπου του Κάδιθ στη νοτιοδυτική Ιβηρική είναι οι εκβολές των μεγάλων ποταμών Γκουαντιάνα, Πιέντρας, Τίντο-Οντιέλ, Γκουανταλέτε και Γουαδαλκιβίρ. Στις εν λόγω εκβολές υπάρχουν αμμώδη φράγματα και ελώδεις περιοχές. Κατά τη διάρκεια των τελευταίων χιλιετιών, οι πέντε αυτές εκβολές επηρεάστηκαν από τη δυναμική της θάλασσας και των ποταμών, την κλιματική αλλαγή, τη νεοτεκτονική και την ανθρωπογενή δραστηριότητα. Τα συστήματα των παράκτιων αμμωδών φραγμάτων και των ελών δημιουργήθηκαν κατά τη διάρκεια των φάσεων της προέλασης και της απόθεσης, με διακοπές κατά διαστήματα κατά τη διάρκεια της Ολοκαίνου εποχής λόγω διαβρωτικών φάσεων των «ακραίων κυματικών φαινομένων» ή EWEs (Extreme wave events, δηλαδή κύματα θύελλας ή τσουνάμι), και των καθιζήσεων. Μια διεπιστημονική μελέτη σε πλήθος πυρήνων που ελήφθησαν μέσα από τις παλαιές εκβολές του Γουαδαλκιβίρ κατέστησε δυνατό τον εντοπισμό τριών ακραίων κυματικών φαινομένων στην περιοχή τη 2η χιλιετία π.Χ.: του Α (περίπου το βαθμονομημένο έτος 2000 π.Χ.), του Β (περίπου το βαθμονομημένο έτος 1550 π.Χ.) και του Γ (περίπου το βαθμονομημένο έτος 1150 π.Χ.). Αποδεικτικά στοιχεία των τριών αυτών φαινομένων έχουν αναγνωριστεί και σε άλλα σημεία κατά μήκος των ακτών του κόλπου. Τα τρία φαινόμενα προκάλεσαν σημαντικές γεωγραφικές αλλαγές, οι οποίες ενδέχεται να επηρέασαν τους οικισμούς των ανθρώπων της περιοχής κατά τη διάρκεια της Νεολιθικής Εποχής και της Εποχής του Χαλκού, καθώς και κατά τη διάρκεια της μετέπειτα Μέσης Εποχής του Χαλκού. Για παράδειγμα, ενδέχεται να επηρέασαν την περιοχή όπου βρίσκεται σήμερα η πόλη του Κάδιθ. Στη Μέση Εποχή του Χαλκού, τη λήξη της οποίας πιθανόν σήμανε το ακραίο κυματικό φαινόμενο Γ, η σημερινή χερσόνησος του Κάδιθ χωρίστηκε σε τουλάχιστον τρία νησιά. Το ένα από αυτά είναι η «Ερύθεια», στην οποία αναφέρεται ο Έλληνας γεωγράφος και εθνολόγος Στράβων από την Αμάσεια περίπου το 1 μ.Χ. σε συνδυασμό με τον θρύλο του Γηρυόντος ή Γηρυόνη, του βασιλιά της Ταρτησσού. Αυτός ο μύθος είναι συνυφασμένος με τον Ηρακλή, τον Έλληνα ήρωα της Εποχής του Χαλκού. Ένας μεγάλος ναός (το Ηράκλειο) που ήταν αφιερωμένος στον ήρωα αυτό και βρίσκεται σε ένα από τα εν λόγω νησιά, αναμφισβήτητα την Ερύθεια, έκανε το Κάδιθ γνωστό κατά την αρχαιότητα. Ο Στράβων αναφέρει, επίσης, έναν οικισμό με το όνομα «Λιμάνι του Μενεσθέα», καθώς και ένα μαντείο με το όνομα «Μαντείο του Μενεσθέα» στις ακτές του Κόλπου του Κάδιθ. Κατά πάσα πιθανότητα, ο εν λόγω «Μενεσθέας» ήταν το ίδιο πρόσωπο με τον Αθηναίο ηγέτη Μενεσθέα που πολέμησε στον Τρωικό Πόλεμο, σύμφωνα με την Ιλιάδα του Ομήρου.

Desde tiempo inmemorial las tierras que adornan el bajo Guadalquivir han sido surcadas por diferentes culturas y prueba de ello son las abundantes evidencias arqueológicas. Lejos queda ya aquel estuario de aguas salobres gobernado por el mar, surcado por tartessos. Hoy Doñana se engalana de espectaculares flechas litorales, extensos sistemas dunares y una marisma de proporciones inmensas, albergando una de las mayores concentraciones de aves que uno pueda imaginar, Ningún paisaje muestra mejor su dinamismo a lo largo de los tiempos, aunque su reloj discurre muy lentamente para nosotros, ¡pobres mortales! El viento, el mar, el río, de dinámica feroz, han conformado un paisaje vivo, que a lo largo de milenios ha ido dejando marcas de su discurrir en forma de dunas, navazos, vetas, paciles..., que los geólogos intentamos desenmarañar, para contar una historia que subyace en las arenas y fangos de uno de los paisajes más evocadores a los que uno se pueda enfrentar., Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Huelva, España, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, España

Resumen del trabajo presentado a las Jornadas de Investigación sobre la Conservación de Doñana, celebradas en Sevilla del 6 al 7 de febrero de 2014.-- et al., [ES]: Hay más razones que las biológicas y medioambientales para conservar Doñana. Son razones antropológicas, arqueológicas y geológicas. Hasta la constitución del Parque, Doñana estuvo habitada durante siglos por una comunidad humana adaptada al aprovechamiento de los muchos recursos que facilitaba el medio marismeño. A comienzos del siglo XX, la construcción del palacio de la Marismilla tuvo por efecto inesperado el descubrimiento de los restos de un poblamiento más antiguo aún: el del yacimiento de El Cerro del Trigo, de los siglos II a VI de nuestra era, que el arqueólogo G. Bonsor y el filólogo A. Schulten excavarían en la década de 1920 pensando que bajo los restos romanos hallarían los de la ciudad de Tartessos. Aunque las excavaciones no dieron con ésta, pusieron de manifiesto un asentamiento notable en Doñana en el periodo romano y alentarían proyectos arqueológicos comparables en el entorno del antiguo estuario del Guadalquivir. El proyecto de Bonsor y Schulten reveló asimismo indicios de un poblamiento humano más remoto todavía, de la prehistoria, así como señales de una subsidencia general del terreno durante el Holoceno. El Espacio Natural es, en efecto, escenario de procesos geomorfológicos de duración relativamente rápida que tienen un gran interés científico, comparables a los que generan en otras zonas del planeta las fluctuaciones climáticas y la neo-tectónica de los últimos milenios. El pluridisciplinar Proyecto Hinojos, iniciado en 2005, ha puesto en valor estos precedentes para la ciencia sobre Doñana a la luz de sus propios resultados: principalmente, de un lado, evidencias de poblamiento y tradiciones culturales que se remontan al menos al Neolítico y, de otro, claros signos de una rápida dinámica geomorfológica de fases sedimentarias aluviales y de subsidencia interrumpidas periódicamente por episodios erosivos de origen oceánico de alta energía. Sirva aquí como ejemplo el hallazgo de fragmentos de cerámica del Neolítico y Calcolítico incrustados en la veta La Carrizosa-La Arena, arrastrados hasta allí por uno de tales episodios erosivos, posiblemente un tsunami. El descubrimiento de polen de cereal en la profundidad de los sondeos corrobora esta presencia del Hombre en Doñana en la prehistoria. Resultados como éstos son consistentes con los de estudios geológicos del litoral suroeste peninsular llevados a cabo desde 1970, pero contradicen los supuestos paleo-geográficos sobre los que descansa la mayoría de las reconstrucciones arqueológicas hechas para la zona para tiempos prehistóricos y protohistóricos., [EN]: There are reasons other than biological and environmental to argue for the preservation of Doñana National Park—reasons which are geological, archaeological, and anthropological. Up until the establishment of Estación Biológica of CSIC, the lower Guadalquivir River basin was home to a human community adapted to the rich, varied resources of a marshland milieu. Early in the 20th century, the construction of Palacio de la Marismilla led to the unexpected discovery of a yet older settlement: one by Cerro del Trigo, dated to the 2nd to the 6th century AD, which archaeologist G. Bonsor and philologist A. Schulten excavated in the 1920s. Their project confirmed such occupation, and, in the process, revealed an earlier, prehistoric one, along with clear signs of subsidence of the ground during the Holocene. In effect, Doñana National Park is a setting for relatively rapid geomorphological processes of scientific interest, which can be compared with those that climate oscillations and neo-tectonics have generated elsewhere in the planet over the past millennia. Since 2005 the interdisciplinary Hinojos Project has brought the relevance of these scientific accomplishments to bear on its own results—mainly, on the one hand, the evidence of settlement and cultural development that goes back to at least Neolithic times and, on the other, the traces of a rapid geomorphological dynamics that combines long phases of alluvial sedimentation and subsidence of the ground with short, periodic events of high-energy marine transgression.

Although most meteoroids impacting our atmosphere ablate completely, some fireball events may produce, under favourable conditions, a non-zero terminal mass. In these cases these materials reach the ground as meteorites. By recovering these meteorites we can obtain unique samples coming from other celestial bodies that provide helpful information about the origin and evolution of our Solar System. As a matter of fact, one of the aims of the SPanish Meteor Network (SPMN) is the analysis of potential meteorite- producing fireballs. For this purpose we are performing a continuous monitoring of meteor and fireball activity over Spain and neighbouring countries by means of different recording techniques. We also focus on meteor spectroscopy in order to obtain chemical information from the emission spectrum produced when meteoroids ablate in the atmosphere. In this context, we present here the first results of the analysis of a potential meteorite-dropping event that took place over south-west Spain on March 21, 2011. This was registered in the framework of the continuous spectroscopic campaign we are performing since 2010 from our meteor observing station located at the Sierra Nevada Astronomical Observatory.

Dust ejecta of comet 7P/Pons- Winnecke produces the June Bootid meteoroid stream [1]. This gives rise to an annual display of meteors from about June 22 to July 2, with a maximum activity around June 28. A continuous monitoring of meteor and fireball events during the activity period of this meteor shower gives an interesting opportunity to analyze the dust from this comet. Besides, a recent study reveals that it is possible that this comet may produce large meteoroids that under some conditions could survive the atmospheric entry and reach the ground as meteorites [2]. So, the analysis of the debris produced by this comet can give valuable information about the physico-chemical properties of these particles and can also improve our understanding of the mechanisms that deliver these cometary materials to the Earth. These properties include not only radiant and orbital parameters, but also chemical information provided by the emission spectra produced during the ablation of these meteoroids in the atmosphere. Although the activity of this meteor shower was not extraordinary on 2009, two of the meteor observing stations operated by the SPanish Meteor Network (SPMN) simultaneously imaged a June Bootid fireball with an absolute magnitude of about -9±1 on July 5. The analysis of this event is made here.

Trabajo presentado a la XII Reunión Nacional de Geomorfología, celebrada en Santander del 17 al 20 de septiembre de 2012.-- Todos los derechos reservados. Con autorización de la editorial para este capítulo., The geomorphological and stratigraphic study of the marshes of Doñana National Park has revealed neotectonic activity during the Late Holocene. Anomalous drainage systems and reliet surfaces show alignments in NE-SW and NW-SE directions. Analysis ofa 12m core has allowed us to identify coastal formations that are now buried under 6 m of subsequent clayey sedimentation. A radiocarbon age of 4,410-3,830 cal BP has been obtained for this depth. The identified coastal formations in the core are related to the current dune system of El Abalario, which appears on the topographic surface to the north. We estimate a subsidence rate of 1.5 mm per year south of the NE-SW alignment over the past 4,000 years. To the SE this progressive, relative subsidence has led to the sedimentation of all subsequent formations.

This work studies the recentmost evolution of /s/a Cristina as a consequence of the human changes occurred in the environment, mainly related to harbour structures and urban building. The natural evolution, previous to an intensive human influence, consisted of a primary longitudinal accretion of a barrier island limited by two tidal channels. This primary construction was followed by a progradation process occurred in relation with the evolution of an ebb-tidal delta located in front of the western inlet. The construction of two jetties to stabilize this inlet modified the pattern ofwave action inducing the last stage ofprogradation. An extensive urbanization around the original town modified the tidal drainage and signified the transformation ofaeolian dune fields and salt marshes in new urban areas

The present paper characterizes the distribution of sediments and geo-forms in a tidal channel within the Guadiana River Mouth using Side Scan Sonar techniques. This work presents a map of bed distribution in terms of sedimentary lithology and geomorphological features. Trom a Hthological point of view clean sands, muddy sands and sandy muds can be distinguished. Trom a dynamic perspective, each Hthological type can present accumulative or erosional features. The dominant flow regime in the sandy beds can be deduced from the morphology and asymmetry ofbedforms

The present paper characterizes the distribution of sediments and geo-forms in a tidal channel within the Guadiana River Mouth using Side Scan Sonar techniques. This work presents a map of bed distribution in terms of sedimentary lithology and geomorphological features. Trom a Hthological point of view clean sands, muddy sands and sandy muds can be distinguished. Trom a dynamic perspective, each Hthological type can present accumulative or erosional features. The dominant flow regime in the sandy beds can be deduced from the morphology and asymmetry ofbedforms

This work studies the recentmost evolution of /s/a Cristina as a consequence of the human changes occurred in the environment, mainly related to harbour structures and urban building. The natural evolution, previous to an intensive human influence, consisted of a primary longitudinal accretion of a barrier island limited by two tidal channels. This primary construction was followed by a progradation process occurred in relation with the evolution of an ebb-tidal delta located in front of the western inlet. The construction of two jetties to stabilize this inlet modified the pattern ofwave action inducing the last stage ofprogradation. An extensive urbanization around the original town modified the tidal drainage and signified the transformation ofaeolian dune fields and salt marshes in new urban areas

Comments on the paper “The Geological record of the oldest historical tsunamis in southwestern Spain” by Francisco Ruiz, Manuel Abad, Joaquín Rodríguez Vidal, Luis Miguel Cáceres, María Luz González-Regalado, María Isabel Carretero, Manuel Pozo & Francisco Gómez Toscano., Rivista italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, Vol 115, No 1

The Huelva coast is composed by large sandy beaches and spits, only interrupted by the presence of the estuarine mouths of the Guadiana, Piedras, Tinto-Odiel and Guadalquivir which are in an advanced state of sediment infilling. The morphology and processes of the Huelva coast are mainly linked to tidal regime, wave action, coastal-drift currents, fluvial dynamics, climatic change and anthropogenic activity. In the last five decades anthropogenic activity has modified the natural dynamics by the construction of jetties, docks, harbour and coastal developments. The main consequences have been the interruption of the sedimentary bypassing caused by an active west-to-east littoral drift, the modification of the tidal regime, the wave refraction-diffraction scheme and the intensification of the littoral erosive processes. All these effects will increase with the slow sea-level rise, close to 0.6 cm per year, which will induce a higher efficacy of the erosional events. A future retreat of about 10-15 m of the coastline is estimated., La costa de Huelva esta constituida por extensas playas y flechas litorales, interrumpidas por la presencia de grandes estuarios (Guadiana, Piedras, Tinto-Odiel y Guadalquivir) en un estado avanzado de colmatación. La morfología y los procesos de la costa se deben principalmente a una serie de factores: régimen mareal, olas, corrientes de deriva, dinámica fluvial, cambio climático y la actividad antrópica. En las últimas cinco décadas la actividad antrópica ha modificado la dinámica natural debido a la construcción de espigones, escolleras, puertos y urbanizaciones. Las principales consecuencias de esta actividad han sido la interrupción del trasvase de sedimentos del Este hacia el Oeste por la corriente de deriva litoral, la alteración del régimen mareal, la modificación de los procesos de refracción-difracción de olas y la intensificación de los procesos erosivos. Todos estos efectos se verán incrementados con el paulatino ascenso del nivel del mar en el Golfo de Cádiz, del orden de 0,6 cm anuales, repercutiendo en una mayor eficacia de los eventos erosivos. Se estima una pérdida del orden de 10-15 m en el perfil de las playas.

Este trabajo se basa en el análisis polínico de tres testigos de sedimento obtenidos en el sector sur de Doñana y correspondientes al Holoceno reciente. Se observa cómo los cambios ocurridos en la vegetación autóctona marismeña durante el Holoceno están controlados primordialmente por la dinámica geomorfológica del medio, lo cual hace que los modos y tiempos de la respuesta vegetal al cambio climático hayan sido fuertemente modulados. Los eventos de prevalencia de las condiciones marinas en el estuario quedan refl ejados por hiatos palinológicos. El cuadro de microfósiles no polínicos sugiere que dicha esterilidad viene condicionada por alteración postdeposicional y fases de erosión que provocarían contactos litológicos abruptos., This work is based on the pollen analysis of three Late Holocene sediment cores from southwestern Doñana. It shows as vegetation changes are largely controlled by geomorphological dynamics, so that vegetational developments in response to climatic changes appear strongly conditioned. The events of prevalence of marine conditions correspond to palynological hiatuses, and the non-pollen microfossil assemblages suggest this sterility is a refl ection of post-depositional processes including localized erosion that could have led to sharp contacts in the stratigraphies.

Las marismas del Parque Nacional de Doñana son una de las zonas húmedas más importantes del mundo. En los últimos cincuenta años han experimentado una preocupante degradación como resultado de la intensa colmatación, que ha repercutido en la transformación de sus características ecológicas. En el presente trabajo se analiza dicha colmatación, comparando las etapas de su evolución holocena (últimos 6000 años) con periodos actuales: últimas cinco décadas (1952-2002) y últimos cuatro años (2000-2004). El estudio permite establecer una comparación entre las tasas de sedimentación naturales y las antrópicas, observándose un aumento considerable en épocas recientes. Las causas se atribuyen principalmente a la alteración de su dinámica hídrica, como consecuencia de los encauzamientos y rectificaciones de los cauces del Guadiamar y Guadalquivir. Se analizan los planes de regeneración que han sido elaborados por la Administración Central para intentar paliar este problema., The salt marsh of the Doñana National Park are one of the most important wet zones in the world. During the last fifty years it has shown a great degradation, due to the intense sedimentation rates. This degradation has influenced in the transformation of its ecological characteristics. In the present work this sedimentation is analyzed, comparing the stages of its Holocene evolution (last 6000 years) with present periods: last five decades (1952-2002) and last four years (2000-2004). The study compares the natural and antropics sedimentation rates; a considerable increase at recent times has been observed. The causes are attributed to the alteration of their hydrologic dynamics, mainly as a result of the channelling and rectifications of the Guadiamar and Guadalquivir rivers. The plans of regeneration elaborated by the Central Administration, trying to palliate this problem, are analyzed.

El análisis de los ostrácodos extraídos en dos testigos tomados en el sector sudoccidental del Parque Nacional de Doñana permite deducir su evolución durante el Holoceno Superior. En los últimos 2.400-2.300 años BP se ha producido la transición desde un lagoon, habitado básicamente por Cyprideis torosa (Jones), Loxoconcha elliptica (Brady) y Leptocythere castanea (Sars), hasta la actual laguna de aguas dulces, con numerosos individuos de Cyprinotus salinus (Brady) y Herpetocypris chevreuxi (Sars). En este período, diversos eventos energéticos (¿tormentas, tsunamis?) han quedado reflejados en un aumento en la proporción de adultos de Cyprideis torosa y en los porcentajes de especies marinas., The ostracode analysis of two cores collected in the southwestern area of the Doñana National Park permits to deduce its evolution during the Late Holocene. In the last 2,400-2,300 years BP, there was a transition from a lagoon, inhabited mainly by Cyprideis torosa (Jones), Loxoconcha elliptica (Brady) and Leptocythere castanea (Sars), to the present-day fresh-water pond, with numerous individuals of Cyprinotus salinus (Brady) and Herpetocypris chevreuxi (Sars). In this period, different energetic events (storms?, tsunamis?) have been deduced from both the higher adult proportions of Cyprideis torosa and the introduction of marine species.

El análisis de los ostrácodos extraídos en dos testigos tomados en el sector sudoccidental del Parque Nacional de Doñana permite deducir su evolución durante el Holoceno Superior. En los últimos 2.400-2.300 años BP se ha producido la transición desde un lagoon, habitado básicamente por Cyprideis torosa (Jones), Loxoconcha elliptica (Brady) y Leptocythere castanea (Sars), hasta la actual laguna de aguas dulces, con numerosos individuos de Cyprinotus salinus (Brady) y Herpetocypris chevreuxi (Sars). En este período, diversos eventos energéticos (¿tormentas, tsunamis?) han quedado reflejados en un aumento en la proporción de adultos de Cyprideis torosa y en los porcentajes de especies marinas. The ostracode analysis of two cores collected in the southwestern area of the Doñana National Park permits to deduce its evolution during the Late Holocene. In the last 2,400-2,300 years BP, there was a transition from a lagoon, inhabited mainly by Cyprideis torosa (Jones), Loxoconcha elliptica (Brady) and Leptocythere castanea (Sars), to the present-day fresh-water pond, with numerous individuals of Cyprinotus salinus (Brady) and Herpetocypris chevreuxi (Sars). In this period, different energetic events (storms?, tsunamis?) have been deduced from both the higher adult proportions of Cyprideis torosa and the introduction of marine species.

Aerial photographs and historical records have been analyzed to reconstruct the coastal evolution in recent times, while the erosive processes acting in the short term have been studied by means of a field monitoring program. Both working techniques do not always provide the same results and they must be combined for a realistic knowledge of the erosiona! state of the coast. In the Culf of Cádiz two main causes produce coastal erosion: the construction of dams in fluvial basins and the building of coastal engineering structures. A map of morpho-erosive states has been made for the Bay of Cádiz, based on the results of the beach monitoring program and the morphometric measurements made on aerial photographs

4 páginas, 2 figuras, 1 tabla, 18 referencias., Late Holocene palaeoenvironmental ehanges ( 2000 BP) in the Doñana National Park (Guadalquivir estuary, SW Spain) were studied using geomorphological techniques, lithostratigraphie analysis and ostracode faunas. Two cores were drilled in the Las Nuevas estuarine ridge, showing an environmental evolution with five phases: 1) brackish lagoon (the Roman Lacus Ligustinus); 2) energetic event (storm?, tsunami?); 3) brackish lagoon with reduction of the ostracode density; 4) transitional, with the first apparition of fresh-water species; and 5) temporary pond, located between cheniers and levees., Este trabajo ha sido financiado con los proyectos AMB99-0226-C03-03 y BTE2000-ll53 de la D.G.Y.C.I.T., así como el proyecto "Evolución y tendencia evolutiva de la Marisma del P.N. de Doñana" (Ministerio del Medio Ambiente). Es una aportación a los IGCP 396 y 437.

Late Holocene palaeoenvironmental changes (~ 2000 BP) in the Donana National Park (Guadalquivir estuary, SW Spain) were studied using geomorphological techniques, lithostratigraphic analysis and ostracode faunas. Two cores were drilled in the Las Nuevas estuarine ridge, showing an environmental evolution with five phases: 1) brackish lagoon (the Roman Lacus Ligustinus); 2) energetic event (storm?, tsunami?); 3) brackish lagoon with reduction of the ostracode density; 4) transitional, with the first apparition of fresh-water species; and 5) temporary pond, located between cheniers and levees

Las islas volcánicas de Chafarinas guardan un amplio registro sedimentario del Pleistoceno superior continental. El análisis radiomètrico de las muestras de calcretas y gasterópodos fósiles, presentes en la serie de la isla del Rey Francisco I, por medio de isótopos de Uranio y Carbono, nos ha servido para fechar este registro entre 100 y 20 ka BP., Chafarinas Islands are a volcanic outcrop in the North edge of Africa, with an Upper Miocene-Pliocene age. The present cliffed landform result of an intensive marine action that has eroded the previous volcanic relief. Quaternary deposits and calcrete formations cover the most part of the planated surface of the islands, mainly in Rey Francisco I isle. Here we studied a wide geological section with 18 m of detritic and calcrete layers. Isotopie dating (230Th/234U and 14C) of these continental deposits (calcretes and shells) and their geological interpretation show a palaeoclimatic fluctuations along the Late Quaternary (100-20 ky BP).

Las islas volcánicas de Chafarinas guardan un amplio registro sedimentario del Pleistoceno superior continental. El análisis radiomètrico de las muestras de calcretas y gasterópodos fósiles, presentes en la serie de la isla del Rey Francisco I, por medio de isótopos de Uranio y Carbono, nos ha servido para fechar este registro entre 100 y 20 ka BP. Chafarinas Islands are a volcanic outcrop in the North edge of Africa, with an Upper Miocene-Pliocene age. The present cliffed landform result of an intensive marine action that has eroded the previous volcanic relief. Quaternary deposits and calcrete formations cover the most part of the planated surface of the islands, mainly in Rey Francisco I isle. Here we studied a wide geological section with 18 m of detritic and calcrete layers. Isotopie dating (230Th/234U and 14C) of these continental deposits (calcretes and shells) and their geological interpretation show a palaeoclimatic fluctuations along the Late Quaternary (100-20 ky BP).